Open-hearth steel plant.



51%. 872,800. PATELTTED DEC. 3, 1907.

P. H. GROGKARDL OPEN HBARTH STEEL PLANT.

APPLICATION IILLD NOV. 10, 1906.

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P. H'I O'ROGKARD. OPEN HEARTH STEEL PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1906.

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F. H. GROCKARD.

OPEN HEARTH STEEL PLANT. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1906.

PATENTED DEC. 3; 1907.

No. 872,800. I PATENTED DEC. 3, 1907. I. H. GROGKARD.

OPEN HBARTH STEEL PLANT.

APPLICATION mum NOV. 10, 1906.

in). 872,800. PATIENTED DEC. s, 1907.

P. H. GROGKARD. OPEN HEARTH STEEL PLANT.

AYEPLIOATIOIN FILED NOV. 10, 1906. I

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APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1906.

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atmag barren spares earner carton FRANK H. CROGKARQDF BIRMINGHAM,ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALEXANDER LAUGHLIN, OF SEWIGKLEY,PENNSYLVANIA.

OL EN-I-EAR'EH STEEL PLANT.

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Specification of Letters Patent. j Application filed November 10. 1906.Serial No. 342.360.

Patented Dec. 3, 1907,

and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Open- H'earth Steel Plants; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

Heretofore great difficulty has been oceasioned in maintaining a propersupply of material to all the open hearth furnaces in a steel plantwhere more than four or five furnaces are used. As the most economicallyoperated steel plants contain from eight to fourteen furnaces, usuallylocated in a straight line, it has always been a very serione problem tohave stock ready for chargingjust outside of the uilding. While suchadditional tracks are of some service, they are objectionable because ofthe fact that every time material is brought in on the tracks in rear ofthe charging machine, it is necessary to use a long switch,-orcross-over, before the a material can be positioned on the track in allon the same level,as is usually the case,

front of the charging machine ready for charg ng into a furnace, andwhile the material is being switched it interferes with the operation ofthe charging machine, as the switches have to cross the tracks uponwhich the charging machine travels from one end of the building'to theother, when the tracks are in a large number of open-hearth steelplants, it is nowfthe practice to charge into the furnaces moltenpigiron which is con- Veyed in ladies brought on cars to the end of thebuilding, the ladies being there picked up "by an overhead travelingcrane and carried to the furnace into which the hot pig iron is to becharged. The ractice of handling hot pig iron with an over ead crane isobjectionable, first, because the travel of the crane is, necessarily,very slow, and, secondly, time is lost by the workmen on the chargingfloor, who will not remain at work while the ladle of hot pigiron isbeing transported over their heads.

In some steel plants, where the overhead crane is not used, the ladle ofhot pig iron has to bebrought in on the same track; that is used for thecharging boxcars. In such instances, it is necessary to maintain, freeof cars, the single track between the charging machine and the lineof'furnaces, and this single track has to remain clear of cars until thepig iron has been poured into the furnace, and the iron ladle is againpassed along such track and out of the plant.- necessary to bring incharging box cars loaded-with scrap and other materials to be chargedinto the furnace, and considerable loss of time is experienced ingetting these charging box cars mtoposition.

The object of my present improvement is to overcome all thesedifiiculties, and to provide means for-facilitating the handling of allthe charging box cars that may be neces- It is then sary to .maintain auniform supply of material for a series of open-hearth urnaces.

A. further object is to provide for the positioning of all cars, whethercharging box.

cars'or ladle cars, between the line bf furnaces and the chargingmachine or machines, so as to avoid the danger of delay consequent upontransferring cars from a track, or

tracks, located in rear of the charging machine, to'a single trackbetween the charging machine and the line of furnaces. v

A further object is to enable charging cars, Whether. charging box carsor ladle cars, to

be so'positioned relative to a line of 0 enhearth furnaces, that thecharging mac ine may deliver the contents of the charging boxes the veryinstant that the hot pig iron has been poured into the furnaces. And

further objects are to provide a clear track I at practically all timesbetween the charging machine and the line of open-hearth furnaces whichtrack may be used forthe passage of a train of cars, whethercharging boxcars or ladle cars, the passage of which will cause only a momentarycessation in the charging of any furnace being charged at the i naces inFigs. 6 and 7 being travel on tracks 4 time, and to enablethe more rapiddelivery of hot metal from a storage reservoir, or

other source, to theseveral furnaces.

The invention will be he einafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view, withparts broken away, of an open-hearth steel plant constructed inaccordance with my invention. Figs. 2, 3, 4,5, 6 and 7 are lanviews, onan enlarged scale, of the difierent furnaces and tracks'constituting thelant, the furthe stationary type, while those in the other figures aredesigned to tilt. Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 are, respectively,elevations of the furnaces, tracks and charging machines, shown in Figs.2 to 7, inclusive. In Figs. 2 to 13, inclusive, a charging machine isshown for each furnace, although ordinarily one charging machine issufficient for all the furnaces.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates an open-hearth. furnace buildingwherein is located a series of I have indicated five furnaces, but it ismanifest that any desired number may be employed. 3 designates thecharging machine, one being provided for the several furnaces, althoughtwo or more may be used, if desired. It is mounted on a wide track 4,paralleling the several furnaces which are usually arranged in line, asshown in Fig. 1, so that it may be used to charge any given furnace, or,as shown in Figs. 7 and 13, the charging machines may be suspended andlocated above the furnaces, instead of on the charging floor;

According to my invention, I provide be tween the line of travel of thecharging machine and the charging side of the several furnaces, twotracks, 5 and 6, paralleling track 4 and the furnaces. These two tracks,5 and 6, are connected by suitable switches and intersecting curvedrails, as shown at the points 7, so that cars on the outer track 6, maybe readily switched onto theinner track 5, or vice 'versa.

The charging machine 3 is constructed to have a stroke suliiciently longto enable it to deliver boxes from cars on the outer track 6 into thefurnaces, as well as from cars on the inner tract; 5. i

The invention will be better understood by reference to the severalfigures of the drawings.

In Figs. .1. and 8, I have shown a ladle carrying car 8 in front of thefurnace on track 5, with charging 6, between the ladle car and thecharging machine. It will be seen that the charging box cars may beassembled ready to be manipulated by the charging machine, while theladle car is being pushed by, or

box cars 9, on track open-hearth furnaces positioned, between thecharging box cars and the furnace.

In Figs. 3 and 9, the ladle is shown being tilted by an overhead crane10, and in the act of pouring molten ig iron into the furnace,indicating that whi e the ladle car is being emptied, there is a clearway on the outer track for a train ofchargin'g box cars.

"In Figs/4 and 10, two trains of charging box cars 9, are located onboth the inner and outer tracks 5 and 6. While the contents of one trainof cars are being emptied in the furnace, another train is free to passbetween the charging machine and the furnace with but a momentarycessation in the operation of charging the furnace. This isofimportance, even where pig iron ladle cars are not employed; differenttrains of charging/box cars being permitted to pass any one furnace inorder to maintain a proper supply of material at all the furnaces.

In Figs. 5 and 11, the pig iron ladle, 8, is between the chargingmachine and a train of charging box cars 9, in front of the furnace, theladle of molten pig iron being free to pass while the furnace is beingcharged, with only a momentary interruption of the charging operation,thus avoiding delay in transporting the ladle around behind the chargingmachine, or in lifting the ladle over the charging machine with atraveling crane.

In Figs. 6 and 12, I have shown a train of charging box cars on theouter track, 6, with the inner track, 5, free'to permit of the passageof a ladle of molten pig iron, or for the passage of another trainofcharging box cars without the necessity of interrupting, more thanmomentarily, the furnace charging operation.

- In Figs. 7 and 13, the charging machine 3 is shown as suspended andtraveling on tracks 4 located overhead, above the furnace; instead of ontracks located on the charging-floor. In Figs. 6, 7, 12 and 13, I haveindicated the furnace 2 as of the stationary type, and have shown thestructural work of the plant accordingly, but in the other figures, Ihave indicated tilting furnaces with corresponding arrangement ofbuilding. I

It is manifest, that the invention is not confined to either style offurnace, nor is it confined to either classof charging machines, but isapplicable to open-hearth steel plants generally.

From What hasbeen said, it will be seen that b providing the describedsystem of tracks eading from a blast furnace and other sup ly points,the necessary material may be rea ily supplied to a long line of oen-hearth furnaces, and may be transports from any point within thelimits of the plant, by one furnace, to any other furnace, withoutmaterially interfering with the working of the intermediate furnaces. Myimprovement,

V furnaces from a single'trac therefore, ermits the uninterrupted sup lyof materia to a long line of open-hearth rnaces, and saves a great dealof time which is now lost through the inability to bringin the materialfast enough to supgjly a long line of nace and. the charging machine.

V I claim as In invention:--

1. The com ination, .in an open hearth steel plant, of a series offurnaces, a charging machine movable in proximity to said furnaces,conveyers for charging boxes, con veyers for hot metal, a plurality oftracks for such conveyers located between the line of travel of saidcharging machine and the furnaces, and means connecting said tracks fortransferring conveyers from one track to .another.

2. The combination, in an open hearth steel plant, of a series offurnaces, a charging machine movable in proximity to said furnaces,conveyers for charging boxes, conveyers for hot metal, a plurality oftracks for etween the fursuch conveyers located between the line oftravel of said chargin machine and the furnaces, and switch-rai-connections between said tracks located between all of the severalfurnaces. v 4

3. In an open hearth steel plant, the combination of a series offurnaces, a charging machine movable in proximity to said furnaces,charging box cars for carryin metal to said furnaces, a plurality oftracks or said cars located between said charging machine and saidfurnaces, and switch-rad connections between said tracks located betweenall Y of the several furnaces, said chargin machine being constructed todeliver oxes from cars on either track into the furnaces.

In testimony'whereof, I have signed. this specification in the presenceof two subscribing Witnesses.

FRANK H. CROCKARD. Witnesses:

G. H. GRAIN, P. V. KOLB.

